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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25352998">stain the windows of my soul</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/artesiaminor/pseuds/artesiaminor'>artesiaminor</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(loosely more alluded to), (same for Byleth), Character Study, For Me, Mentioned Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, Mentioned Edelgard von Hresvelg, Other, Poetry, War</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 07:34:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>377</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25352998</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/artesiaminor/pseuds/artesiaminor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Stain the windows of my soul,<br/>do not block the light,<br/>but color me whole. </p><p>This is a poem written from Claude's perspective but it is not intended to be read as a poem written by Claude.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>stain the windows of my soul</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So, I dabble in poetry sometimes, sorry if it's shit. It was just for funsies, though my poetry tends to gravitate toward being a smidge dark. Claude is just such a complex character, and this was initially meant to be a short poem to break up chapters of a fic I'm hoping to write one day, and then it just ran away from me. I'm aware poetry is rarely posted on this site, so I imagine this will seem a bit strange. However, I hope those that read enjoy it. :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Stain the windows of my soul,</p><p>do not block the light,</p><p>but color me whole,</p><p>replace the gold mantles with silver, grays</p><p>strip me of the summer scorch,</p><p>and make me spit back the sun I swallow.</p><p>Hang hail from my ears, drape me in capes of snow,</p><p>embellish me in winter death</p><p>so I become a blizzard’s knell,</p><p>a disguise to erase my very name. </p><p> </p><p>They’ll still see I do not fit</p><p>but their fear will at least keep them at bay.</p><p> </p><p>Solidify my solitary status,</p><p>stray boy with a mind like clematis</p><p>clinging to library walls.</p><p>Wring out the histories into my heart,</p><p>let me learn this land I’m told I borrow —</p><p>I’ll make sure not to call it home.</p><p>I know what happens when foreign things</p><p>make themselves too comfortable</p><p>in the houses of the scared.</p><p> </p><p>Replace me, repulse me, reject me, distrust me,</p><p>my mirror eyes will never let you see the pain.</p><p> </p><p>Your nation screams in agony</p><p>but the prayers sung by drones drown them.</p><p>The damnation is in the details:</p><p>this church whores itself out</p><p>binging upon the disturbed and gory</p><p>while demanding devotees fast.</p><p>Such an effective starvation of the individual</p><p>allows for horrors to be wrought</p><p>with little contestation.</p><p> </p><p>My back is bent from shouldering dreams,</p><p>dying wishes keep me from sleep. </p><p> </p><p>A war erupts — it’s not for glory.</p><p>Vitriolic mania makes beasts of man,</p><p>regalia blood red and horned:</p><p>crowned empress demon kills prince of thorns.</p><p>On its clock-face, our goals are one in the same;</p><p>but she’s a thief of thought with tactless plans</p><p>killing heroes and innocent lambs,</p><p>in removing the borders she’s destroying the land.</p><p>A grand feast of conversation could have staved off her hunger</p><p>instead she opted for an axe.</p><p> </p><p>My arrow is not my compass, still it always strikes true,</p><p>victory from death is a two sided coin I wish I never knew.</p><p> </p><p>The church stands blinking, weary,</p><p>its new archbishop an ex-mercenary,</p><p>faith in others the only foundation that remains. </p><p><span class="Apple-converted-space">It's time I s</span>crub myself clean of my tainted glass,</p><p>let light shine clear, glare upon brass,</p><p>pack my masks into a trunk,</p><p>expose my soul as it once was,</p><p>and merge two worlds</p><p>so that I may become one.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I know this was a bit strange -- let me know what you think! What you think should be changed. And also let me know if you'd like to see anything else like this. I sincerely doubt it, but I'm curious to see if anyone bothers to read.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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